Indicia mounting means



Jan. 18, 1966 A. KOPATICH 3,229,398

INDICIA MOUNTING MEANS Filed May 14, 1964 i E55 5 I INVENTOR.

] ANTHONY KOPATICH ATTORNEY United States Patent Oii ice 3,229,398Patented Jan. 18, 1966 3,229,398 INDICIA MOUNTING MEANS AnthonyKopatich, 742 Whipple Ave, Campbell, ()hio Filed May 14, 1964, Ser. No.367,312 3 Claims. (Cl. 40140) This invention relates to indicia such asletters, numerals and the like and more particularly to a novelconfiguration thereof with means for securing said indicia to a mountingmember.

The principal object of the invention is the provision of a combinationof a mounting member and indicia having means thereon engaging saidmounting member so as to be self-retaining relative thereto.

A further object of the invention is the provision of indicia of novelconfiguration arranged to slidingly engage registrable formations in amounting member.

A further object of the invention is the provision of indicia of novelconfiguration and a mounting member of novel configuration for receivingand holding said indicia in desired relation.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a means ofpersonalizing objects by afiixing initials, numbers, names of the likethereto quickly and inexpensively.

A still further object of the provision of a tubular member havinglongitudinally extending groove-like configurations in its exteriorsurface in spaced parallel relation, and a plurality of indiciaincluding numbers, letters and the like, each of which has a novelconfiguration registering with one of the groove-like configurations ofsaid tubular member so that cut sections of said tubular member and saidindicia members may be assembled to form a circular, personallyidentified member which may support a receptacle or the like.

The invention disclosed herein comprises a simple, efficient andinexpensive means of personalizing such advertising objects and others,as may be desired, by affixing names, dates, numbers or otheridentifying indicia thereto and, for example, the formation of apersonalized ash tray which carries an individual name or a company orcorporation name about the periphery thereof and has the appearance ofhaving been formed on a single extrusion die with a section of theextruded material cut oif and used as the mounting means for the ashtray.

It has heretofore been customary in the art for extrusion die makers,for example, to produce an extrusion die which is essentially capable ofextruding a circular or tubular extrusion, the outer periphery of whichis modified by the inclusion of the name and/ or address of theextrusion die company. Sections of this extrusion are then cut oif andbuffed and polished and laid flat upon a desk and serve as a mountingmeans for a ceramic glass or plastic receptacle and thus comprise anovel and highly attractive commercial ash tray. The extrusion art isrelatively new and the average person presented with one of these ashtrays or similar article extruded on a complicated and very expensiveextrusion die is usually impressed with the article and retains it andit, therefore, maintains its commercial and/or advertising value.

The present invention provides simple and inexpensive means ofaccomplishing exactly the same results through the use of a singleextrusion die by which a tubular member may be extruded and a pluralityof individual extrusion dies by means of which extrudable indicia, suchas letters and numbers, may be extruded and all of which may then beassembled as desired and in such assembly will provide a replica of theextruded product of the single extrusion die as heretofore referred to.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention resides in the combination andarrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafterdescribed and claimed, it being the intention to cover all changes andmodifications of the example of the invention herein chosen for purposesof the disclosure, which do not constitute departures from the spiritand scope of the invention.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan View of a portion of a circular mounting memberhaving various individual indicia affixed to the periphery thereof.

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged elevational view on lines 22 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a cross section on lines 33 of FIG- URE 2.

FIGURE 4 is an elevational view of a flat strip of metal or othermaterial showing the application of indicia thereto.

FIGURE 5 is an end elevation taken on lines 5-5 of FIGURE 4.

By referring to the drawings and FIGURES 1, 2 and 3 in particular, apreferred embodiment of the invention may be seen to comprise a circularsection of material, such as aluminum, and generally indicated by thenumeral 10, and which circular section is a transversely cut portion ofa tubular member which is extruded with a smooth inner surface 11 and aplurality of longitudinally extending, spaced parallel dove-tailedgrooves 12, 12 on its outer surface. It will occur to those skilled inthe art that the diameter of the circular member 10 and/or the tubularmember from which it Was out can be any desired size and that there maybe as few or as many of the dove-tailed parallel, spaced grooves in itsouter surface as desired.

As illustrated in FIGURE 1 of the drawings, a plurality of individualextrusions 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19 are illustrated in endelevation as they would appear if transverse cuts were made therethroughand sections thereof severed therefrom and positioned in engagingrelation in the dove-tailed grooves 12, 12 of the circular member 10. Byexamining each of the individual extrusions 13 through 19, it will beseen that they comprise different letters of the alphabet and that eachof the letters is modified so that it has an arcuate base portion 20 anda dovetail extension 21 thereon. It will thus be clear that in order toform a circular member 10 with individualized names, or numbers, aroundthe periphery thereof, as shown in FIGURE 1, a section of a tubularextrusion is cut transversely thereof to form the circular member 10with the longitudinally extending, spaced parallel dove-tailed grooves12, 12 in its outer surface, and a plurality of individual extrusionssuch as 13 through 19 each of which defines a letter or a number asdesired and each of which has an identical base including an arcuatebase portion 20 and a dove-tailed portion 21 is then assembled so thatthe arcuate base 20 is sprung in some slight degree as illustrated inFIGURE 3 of the drawings. In FIGURE 3 broken lines show the originalconfiguration of the arcuate base 20 and solid lines show the sprung ortensioned configuration thereof.

It will occur to those skilled in the art, and particularly theextrusion art, that the arrangement thus provided compensates for thetolerances which are inherent in extruded sections. The dove-tailedextensions 21 on each of the individual indicia which are employed aregenerally of a loose or sloppy fit with respect to the dove-tailedgrooves 12, 12 in the circular member 10 and the spring base 20compensates for this normal discrepancy and insures that each of theindividual indicia sections is securely and properly mounted on theperiphery of the circular member 10.

When all of the necessary indicia have been mounted so as to form thedesired names, numbers and the like, and it will occur to those skilledin the art that filler strips comprising only the base portions 20 anddove-tailed configurations 21 are used in lieu of spacing elementsbetween words thus formed, the circular member as completed carries thedesired name of the company or individual, as the case may be, aroundits peripheral edges and a receptacle of china, glass, or plastic havinga flange as is common is then positioned within the circular member 10and in abutting relation to the inner wall 11 thereof and with itsflange overlying the majority of the dove-tailed grooves 12 and thedove-tailed configurations 21. Thus, when the item is positioned on adesk, it has the appearance of a transverse section cut from a singleextrusion with a receptacle suitable for use as an ash tray positionedtherein and it therefore possesses a rather high intrinsic value and iscapable of being appreciated by the recipient and kept on his desk whereit serves its commercial purpose.

In FIGURE 2 of the drawings, an enlarged elevational view of a portionof the assembly as seen in FIGURE 1 may be seen and it will be notedthat like numerals in FIGURE 1 are extended to FIGURE 2 to identify theindicia 16 which comprises the letter Y, its arcuate base 20 and itsdove-tailed configuration 21.

It will occur to those skilled in the art that modifications of thenovel indicia and mounting therefor are possible within the scope of theinvention, and by referring to FIG- URES 4 and of the drawings, one suchmodification may be seen. In FIGURES 4 and 5, a section of metal orplastic which is relatively straight and of greater length than itswidth and thickness is shown with portions of the ends thereof brokenaway. This section is generally indicated by the numeral 22, and it willbe seen that it is provided with a plurality of transversely extendingdovetailed channels 23, 23 therein, which channels are parallel and inspaced relation to one another. It will further be seen that a pluralityof indicia having mounting configurations thereon may be mounted one ineach of the dove-tailed channels 23.

As illustrated in FIGURES 4 and 5 of the drawings, the indicia comprisesthe letter Y and it is indicated by the reference numeral 24 and it ismounted on an arcuate base 25, and the arcuate base in turn is directlyattached to a dove-tailed extension 26. It will be immediately perceivedthat the difference between this particular form of the invention andthat illustrated and heretofore described in connection with FIGURES 1,2 and 3 is that the plane of the indicia is now parallel with themounting base 25, rather than perpendicular thereto.

It will further be observed that sections of extrusions from which theindicia 24 and its essential parts 25 and 26 are formed are simply cutand then slipped sidewardly into the dove-tailed grooves 23 of thelongitudinal strip of metal, or other strip of material, 22 so that anattractive indicia carrying arrangement is provided. This may be used asa marker on a flat surface, such as a sign or the like.

It will thus be seen that the indicia and means for mounting the same asdisclosed herein meets the several objects of the invention, and havingthus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. Indicia and mounting means therefor, said mounting means comprising abody member having spaced parallel undercut grooves therein and saidindicia comprising letters, numerals and the like, each of which has aspaced transversely positioned resilient arcuate base member with anaxial extension in the form of a fastening configuration registrablewith one of said undercut grooves in said mounting member.

2. The indicia mounting means set forth in claim 1 and wherein themounting member comprises a transversely cut section of a tubularextrusion.

3. The indicia mounting means set forth in claim 1 and wherein themounting member comprises an elongated flat body member.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 533,915 2/1895Petry 40-142 X 1,239,983 9/1917 Thunell 40-142 1,428,390 9/1922 Moore40-142 1,506,661 8/1924 Pannier 101-380 2,056,724 10/1936 Jackson 20-74X 2,279,916 4/ 1942 Del Camp 20-74 X 2,493,162 1/1950 Olds 20-74 X2,596,780 5/1952 Meyers et al 20-74 X 2,605,871 8/1952 Kress et al189-88 2,796,624 6/1957 Speet 16-16 2,813,359 11/1957 Ferdinand 40-162,879,614 3/1959 Baldanza 40-143 X 2,943,567 7/1960 Pannier 101-380EUGENE R. CAPOZIO, Primary Examiner.

LAWRENCE CHARLES, JEROME SCHNALL,

Examiners.

SHELDON M. BENDER, Assistant Examiner.

1. INDICIA AND MOUNDING MEANS THEREFOR, SAID MOUNTING MEANS COMPRISING ABODY MEMBER HAVING SPACED PARALLEL UNDERCUT GROOVES THEREIN AND SAIDINDICIA COMPRISING LETTERS, NUMERALS AND THE LIKE, EACH OF WHICH HAS ASPACED TRANSVERSELY POSITIONED RESILIENT ARCUATE BASE MEMBER WITH